Kyle McGovern

August 8, 2014 –
Over the last few weeks, Jack White has shown plenty of love to other artists. He complimented Julian Casablancas' fashion sense at New York City's Governors Ball, covered Metallica's "Enter Sandman" at Glastonbury, fiddled with a bluesy rendition of Kanye West's "Black Skinhead" in Dublin, interpolated the White Stripes' "Icky Thump" with Jay Z's "99 Problems" in Louisville, played his own version of Lorde's "Royals" in Milwaukee, and assisted Beck with a string of songs in Providence.But this past weekend, rapper Vic Mensa paid tribute to Mr. White's best-known song—yes, we're talking about the unofficial anthem of this year's World Cup, "Seven Nation Army." While playing a hometown show at Chicago's Grant Park for Lollapalooza, Mensa marched into a booming rendition of the Elephant opener.

August 6, 2014 –
Marvel Studios maintained its stranglehold on the box office this past weekend with the genuinely delightful Guardians of the Galaxy. The Chris Pratt-powered vehicle—part sci-fi action flick, part sci-fi comedy—brought in $94.3 million during its opening weekend, the biggest debut ever for an August release, according to Box Office Mojo. There are several factors that contributed to the blockbuster's commercial and critical success: Pratt's Han Solo-ish charisma; the movie's vivid color palette; a rarely better Bradley Cooper voicing a trigger-happy, Napoleonic raccoon; a never-better Vin Diesel voicing a talking (albeit monosyllabic) tree.And, of course, there's the soothing effect of the film's '70s-heavy soundtrack.

July 30, 2014 –
Well, this should get the rumor mill churning: Former Nirvana drummer Chad Channing has said he'd be willing to reunite with the iconic band's other surviving members. In an interview with the NME, Channing said he wouldn't be opposed to reviving Nirvana with Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic at some point in the future.Asked if he'd ever join the alt-rock legends onstage, Channing, who currently leads the band Before Cars, said, "Yeah, if they wanted me to. It'd maybe be something like Dave playing guitar and singing and Krist doing bass.

July 30, 2014 –
A new week brings a new batch of albums to stream. Follow the links below to hear the latest releases from Spoon, Gucci Mane, Best New Artist honorees Naomi Punk, singer-songwriter Christopher Denny, and more. 1) Spoon, They Want My Soul. "It doesn't serve much function to ask where They Want My Soul fits into Spoon’s career-long worst-to-best rankings, partly because nobody can agree on what the best Spoon album is... and partly because every album is, in one way or another, of a piece with every other album. And that's what you need to know the most about They Want My Soul: It's a practiced and confident piece of power-pop from a band that plays every instrument like a drum, with a singer who can project swagger even through a hungover growl." — Stereogum (via iTunes First Play)2) Twin Peaks, Wild Onion.

July 17, 2014 –
St. Vincent took over the legendary Ed Sullivan Theater on Wednesday to play the latest installment of the Live on Letterman webcast series. Annie Clark and co. tore through a total of 11 songs, most of which appear on this year's Essential St. Vincent LP (one of the 50 Best Albums of 2014... So Far), and a handful of which date back to 2011's Strange Mercy. Even if you've already seen St. Vincent on Saturday Night Live, The Colbert Report, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Clark's guitar prowess demands attention. Watch her perform in the video above, and check out the Late Show With David Letterman tonight, July 17, to see her return to the Sullivan stage.St. Vincent's Live on Letterman set list:"Rattlesnake""Digital Witness""Cruel""Marrow""Every Tear Disappears""Surgeon""Cheerleader""Prince Johnny""Huey Newton""Regret""Birth in Reverse"

July 16, 2014 –
When Drake was announced as the host of ESPN's 2014 ESPY Awards, some people were skeptical. (The naysayers included a handful of pedestrians polled for a Jimmy Kimmel Live! bit featuring Drizzy himself.) But by now, the 27-year-old rapper's multi-threat status shouldn't be called into question. To prove that Aubrey Graham is a man of many talents — and to coincide with the 2014 ESPYs, which air live tonight at 9 p.m. EST — we've rounded up evidence that the "Trophies" MC is not in need of any Sound Advice. He already has the makings of a great emcee.Exhibit A: Drake's isn't as self-serious as his soapy songs may suggest.

July 2, 2014 –
Death Grips are no more, it seems. In a note shared on their Facebook page, the experimental hip-hop group have announced that they're calling it quits. "We are now at our best and so Death Grips is over," the message reads. "We have officially stopped."According to the post, Death Grips have canceled all of their scheduled live dates, bailing on their upcoming tour with Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden (not that keeping appointments was ever their strong suit). The noise-rap band's dissolution comes less than a month after the release of their latest album, niggas on the moon. When Death Grips dropped the surprise eight-track effort on June 8, they explained that the record is the first half of an intended double album dubbed the powers that b.

June 16, 2014 –
California's Joyce Manor drop pearls of pop-punk wisdom: songs that are rich in melody, short in length, and colored with a gentle-hearted loneliness. On July 22, Epitaph Records will release Never Hungover Again, the foursome's third album and follow-up to 2012's less optimistically titled Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired. The upcoming, 10-track LP features the previously shared, minute-long "Catalina Fight Song" and the just-revealed "Schley," a nostalgic ballad boasting a bouncy bass line and coiled hooks.

June 12, 2014 –
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have a new live lineup, which they'll be bringing across the United States this fall. On October 5, the Brooklyn-based band will kick off a slew of tour dates with another recently resurrected outfit, the New Pornographers. Pains' current roster includes frontman Kip Berman, bassist Jacob Sloan, returning guitarist Christoph Hochheim (who played on 2011's Belong), and Hochheim's twin brother, Anton, on drums. They're all overseas at the moment, promoting this year's Days of Abandon, a 10-song LP that features previously heard tracks "Simple and Sure," "Eurydice," and "Until the Sun Explodes."For their part, the New Pornographers will be touring on behalf of their upcoming sixth album, Brill Bruisers, due out August 26 on Matador.

June 12, 2014 –
Kip Berman loves to talk about bands. The boyish 34-year-old singer-guitarist — who leads the oh-so-preciously named group the Pains of Being Pure at Heart — can literally spend hours gushing about songwriters, lyrics, record labels, even interviews that artists have done.Over the course of an April afternoon and evening, Berman peppers conversation with regular references to Tom Petty, Titus Andronicus, and Destroyer's Dan Bejar. He recalls how, years ago, he took fashion cues from the Strokes and laughs about the time Julian Casablancas told a journalist he owned only a handful of records, one of them being Bob Marley's greatest-hits collection."I love bands that can create their own universe," Berman says on a dreary Good Friday.